Only If For A Night
by RedForRaph
Summary: When Leonardo gets hurt during a fight with the Foot, Donatello says he may never wake up. Raphael believes it's all his fault, considering Leo took a hit that was really meant for him. Strangely, even while Leo is in his coma, Raph can still hear him, especially in his dreams. Now, Raphael will do whatever it takes to avenge his older brother and bring him back.


_A.N: Hey! It's me again! I heard this AMAZING song called "Only if for a Night" by Florence and the Machine, and it oddly reminded me of Raph and Leo. Anyways, I decided to make it into a song-fic! (Kind of. I'm pretty sure my story is too long to really be considered one, but oh well!) I do not own the song OR the Turtles! Please enjoy and review! I love to hear your guys' opinions!_

**Only if for a Night**

The only sound that disturbed the quietness of the lair was Michelangelo's even breathing as he slept fitfully on the couch. It had been a trying night indeed. As much as he had wanted to stay with his eldest brother, Leonardo, in the infirmary, his body rejected the idea completely. Donatello, his immediate older brother, had practically forced him out of the lab.  
Raphael, on the other hand, had threatened to kick Donnie's shell if he tried to make him leave his only older brother. It was, in Raphael's mind, his fault Leo was hurt. Donnie had made it clear, once Mikey was asleep, that Leo had a serious head injury and may never wake up.  
Raphael mentally slapped himself. It all had started with one of their famous fights. The four turtles had been doing their routine run when they ran into some Foot Ninja. They were unlocking a warehouse and, after a moment of observation, they pulled out a small box. The turtles climbed down the building to hear better.  
"Is this it?" one of the ninja asked the other.  
"Yes," the other replied, "The chip inside has the codes to rig the bank's accounts. Shredder will be able to have Baxter drain every account at the bank." That was all the turtles needed to hear.  
Raphael had been itching for a good fight, so he ran in without thinking. His other brothers were soon to join. Weapons clashed as more and more Foot Ninja fell in defeat. Raph was getting cocky. He was going to get that chip single-handedly.  
"Pay attention, Raph," Leo warned, "We haven't won yet." Raphael had spat a smart-assed reply back before charging head-first into the fighting. Once all the ninja around him were down for the count, he looked around to check on his brothers.  
Donnie was faring well. Though he was the gentler and 'weaker' brother, he was more than capable of taking care of himself and kicking ass. Mikey, too, was handling himself well. He laughed and joked as he unleashed his hot, nunchuck fury. Mikey was born with the natural gift of ninjutsu, but his teenage mind was just too broad to concentrate on any one thing for too long.  
Raphael looked around for his fearless leader.  
"Raphael! Watch out!" Raph felt someone push him as a loud thump sounded behind him, a sickeningly recognizable thud: metal on flesh. Raphael jumped up with fire in his eyes. Leo lay at his feet while a Foot Ninja stood over his unconscious body with a lead pipe.  
Raphael gulped back the sickness that was rising in his throat as he looked down at the blood spreading around Leo's head. That lead pipe was meant for him.  
With a quick slash of his sai, the Foot Ninja fell to the ground. Usually, Raphael preferred to fight less messy, but he needed to hurry.  
"Guys!" Raphael yelled, hauling Leo up over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, "Leo's hit! Fall back!" Once they were all in the same spot, Donnie threw a smoke pellet. They ran for the first sewer lid they saw.  
That had all been over three hours ago. It was one in the morning as they all, except Mikey, waited in Donnie's lab which had been converted into a makeshift infirmary.  
"You can go to bed, Raph," Donnie said gently, placing a hand on Raphael's shoulder, who had pulled a chair up to Leo's bedside, "He'll still be here in the morning." Raphael jerked his shoulder away angrily.  
"How do ya know, eh?" he growled, "Ya said he may nevah even wake up, remembah?" Donnie drew his hand back, and Raph had the sudden impulse to apologize for shouting, to hug Donnie and beg for him to say Leo would be okay, but Raph was the older brother. HE should be the one comforting the others.  
"Go ta bed, Don," Raph added, giving his brother a serious look, "I'll watch 'im and let ya know if anythin' happens." Donnie nodded his head and, without a fight, headed to the other room to join Mikey on the couch.  
Raph looked once more at Leo's broken form. Gauze was wrapped a coupled times around and over his forehead, while his face was a sickly pale-green. Leo's chest moved with every uneven breath. It wasn't looking good. Could Leo still hear him?  
"Leo?" Raph said in a raspy voice, "You bettah wake up right now, ya hear me? Come on, Fearless. Quit being' a drama queen." Raph waited in vain for some verification that he was heard. "Ya can't do dis to meh, bro," he whispered, though it was mostly to himself, "I ain't cut out to be da leader. Yeah, I'm always bragging 'bout how much bettah I am, but that's bull. We both know dat." Still no response. Raphael grabbed Leo's hand in his own and rested his head on Leo's plastron. "I need yer help, Leo. Tell meh what to do."  
The shock of the whole experience was finally wearing off, leaving him completely exhausted. He closed his eyes, Leo's quiet heartbeat lulling him to sleep.

_**"I had dream about my old school."**_

Raphael was dreaming he was in the dojo. Not the one he was used to, but the one from their childhood with pictures of crudely drawn turtles and rats. Without even seeing himself, Raphael knew he was a child. He didn't know how he knew. Maybe it was the way everything looked so big or maybe it was the childish fear he felt when he realized he was alone.  
"Mastah Splintah?" his tiny voice echoed in search of his family, "Weo? Donnie? Mikey?"

_**"And he was there all blue and gold and glittering."**_

"Raphael." Raphael spun to where the familiar voice had come from. A few feet away stood a full-grown Leonardo, healthy and standing tall. He was three times as tall as child Raph, but his half-smile was comforting.

_**"I threw my arms around his legs. Came to weeping, came to weeping."**_

"Weo!" Raphael ran to his older brother, relieved he wasn't still hurt. With boyish glee, wrapped his short, stubby arms around Leo's legs and cried.  
"Weo, Weo!" he cried, pressing his wet, tear-stained face against Leo's legs, "I t'ought ya was gone fowever!" Leo bent over and scooped his younger brother up into his arms. Raph pressed his forehead to Leo's plastron.

_**"And I heard your voice as clear as day, and you told me I should concentrate."**_

"Never, little brother," Leo whispered, hugging Raph, "I would never leave you guys." Leo set Raph back on the ground. "But I need you to do something for me, okay, Raphael?" Raphael nodded his head eagerly.  
"I tough!" he exclaimed, "I can do anyt'in'!" Leo nodded seriously, bowing onto one knee to be face to face with Raph.  
"Those Foot Ninja from earlier," Leo began, placing a hand on Raph's shoulder, "They got away with the chip. It's up to you to get it back while I'm, um, gone." Raphael's face fell.  
"I mess up," he said, hanging his head, "I made you get hurt. Not good nuff to lead." Leo shook Raph a little bit.  
"You're wrong, Raph," he stated, "You need to concentrate. You can do this."

_**"It was all so strange and so surreal that a ghost should be so practical. Only if for a night."**_

As if struck with lightening, Raphael suddenly sat straight up, awake.  
"What da hell was dat?" he asked out loud, rubbing his eyes, "It was a dream?" Raphael looked at Leo's motionless body, slightly shaken. It had all seemed too real to be a dream. It had really felt like Leo was talking to him...  
He remembered his dream and what Leo had said. He had to get the chip back from the Foot.

_**"And the only solution was to stand and fight."**_

He knew what he had to do. He stood up, quickly stretched the knots in his neck, and grabbed Leo's katana's off of the desk beside the bed Leo was in. Raphael strapped them across his shell and tucked his own sai into his belt. Finally, he knelt beside Leo.  
"I'll be back with da chip, 'kay?" he said, a promise he would keep or die trying. He exited the lab, closing the door gently behind him.  
In front of him, he saw Donnie on the couch, sleeping in a sitting position with Mikey's head in his lap. Before leaving, Raph made sure to drape a blanket over each of them.  
Raphael ran the rooftops until he reached the roof of the bank, where he stood alert, waiting for the Foot. He didn't have to wait long.  
A Foot Ninja had the small box in his hand as they all creeped toward the bank like fog. Raph wasted no time. He jumped down from the roof, sai blazing and slashing. It was about fifteen on one, but Raph was holding his own. His only goal was to take out enough Foot to reach the guy with the chip, and then he'd make a break for it.

_**"And my body was bruised, and I was set alight."**_

The more tired Raphael grew, the more hits he received. His muscles were beginning to ache from constant strain, and a ninja had already knocked one of his sai out of his hands. He could feel bruises forming along his spine from all the kicks and hits, but he stayed on his feet.  
Suddenly, a ninja with a Bo staff swept Raph's legs out from under him, causing him to fall backwards. His head hurt, his back hurt, everything hurt. A ninja kicked him in the back of the head while he was down, and black dots danced in front of his eyes. He could feel that he was about to pass out...

_**"He came over me like some holy rite, and although I was burning, he was the only light. Only if for a night."**_

He wouldn't let Leo down. Leo would've been able to do it. Suddenly, Raphael felt an energy fill him, and he saw his enemies with a new light. His hands twitched, wanting to feel the handles of the katanas in his hands. He could practically feel himself slicing away the ninja with the blades, though he, himself, wasn't skilled with using them. He would never use a katana if there was a perfectly good sai lying around, which there was...But Leo would.  
Raphael pulled the two katanas out of the sling on his shell and held them expertly.  
The Foot ran at Raph again, but this time, Raphael knew what to do. Waiting until they were all close, he jumped up, spinning his katanas in complicated swirls. He had a plan the second time. Charge directly at the ninja with the box.  
Raphael slid through the legs of a very startled ninja and did a backflip, landing directly in front of the ninja. With the hilt of his sword, he nailed the guy right between the eyes and caught the box in mid-air when the ninja fell unconscious.  
Raphael's burst of energy was disappearing, and he could once again feel the tired ache all over his body. But he had the box.  
He turned to run for the nearest sewer lid, but a Foot ninja took advantage of the moment. Suddenly, Raph felt something hard and heavy smash against the back of his head. He crumbled to the ground, clutching the box to his plastron. His eyes blurred, as he lay there on the verge of unconsciousness. Right before his eyes closed, he heard the scuffling sound of a fight and saw two dark figures leaning over him...

_**"The grass was so green against my new clothes, and I did cartwheels in your honor."**_

Raphael was dreaming again, though he didn't know it. He was a child again, rolling around in the grass on the surface world. How exciting it was to be on the surface! Adult Leo was there, too, sitting cross-legged in the green grass beside a round rock protruding from the ground. Raphael laughed and did cartwheels until he fell against the rock. It had words on it...

_**"Dancing on tiptoes, my own secret ceremonials."**_

"Weo," Raphael asked, running to his big brother, "What dat say?" Leo looked behind him at the oval rock, and he smiled gently.  
"That says, 'Hamato Leonardo'," Leo replied. Raphael cocked his head, confused. His child-like mind couldn't comprehend what it all meant. He looked around him at all the other round rocks sticking out of the ground all around them with words on them. The rock with Leo's name had flowers in front of it.

_**"Before the service began, in the graveyard, doing handstands."**_

"What it mean, Weo?" Raph asked, pulling on his brother's hand and his eyebrows furrowing, "It mean you not coming back?" Something in the back of Raphael's brain was putting the pieces together. It was telling Raphael what it all meant. Why Leo's name was on a gravestone in a cemetery. Leo didn't answer, but Raphael knew.  
"It my fault!" Raph shouted, backing away, "I couldn't get chip!" Leo smiled as he started disappearing before Raph's eyes.  
"You DID get the chip, Raph," Leo praised, "You did it!" Everything faded away to gray as the real Raphael woke.

_**"And I heard your voice as clear as day, and you told me I should concentrate. It was all so strange and so surreal that a ghost should be so practical. Only if for a night."**_

Raphael heard a voice calling to him through the dark and grogginess of his mind. Where was he? What happened?  
Leo.  
It was Leo's voice he was hearing, not in his mind and dreams, but in the real world. It started out as just an echo, but it grew louder the closer Raph came to consciousness.  
"Raph. Raphael. Wake up. Just concentrate. You need to wake up..." Was it Leo's ghost again? Funny, it sounded just like the REAL Leo... Raph opened his eyes.  
"Leo?" he called out, before even looking around.  
He sat up, and quickly regretted it, but he had to reach Leo.  
"Whoa, Raphie," a new voice said as a hand pressed on Raphael's plastron, forcing him to lay down again, "Donnie said for you to take it easy. He said you got a concussion like Leo's." It was Mikey looking relieved and laughing.  
"Leo. Where's Leo?!" Raph asked, pushing Mikey's hand away and sitting up.  
"Hey, Raph." Raphael froze at the hesitant yet happy voice of his big brother. Of Leo. He slowly turned to the doorway where the voice had came from.  
Leonardo, the fearless leader, was there, Donnie at his side, as he supported himself with just a tad of help from Don.  
"Leo!" Ignoring all injuries, Raph ran to Leo and hugged him tightly around the neck. "Bro, I thought you were a goner, and when Donnie said..." Leo held up a hand, a gesture meant to say, 'calm down'. Leo smiled.  
"We'll give you guys a moment to chat, but then your butts are going back to bed, got it?" Donnie insisted, herding Mikey out the door. Raphael waved a playful hand at him.  
"Ya, ya," he replied. The door closed.  
"Leo," Raph began, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "I'm, um, sorry for messin' everythin' up. I tried to get the chip back..."  
"I know, Raph," Leo replied with a small grin, "It wasn't your fault, and you DID get the chip. Donnie and Mikey heard you leave the lair, so they followed you. When they finally found you, the Foot were about to finish you. When the guys brought you home, I was already awake, looking for you guys. I was having the weirdest dream..." He paused in thought.  
"Lemme guess. Was I a kid?" Raph cut in. Leo raised an eyebrow.  
"...Yeah..." he replied, then awkwardly tried to change the subject, "I tried to send my spirit out to help you like Master Splinter has been trying to teach me, but I don't know if it worked."  
"Oh, it worked all right," Raphael chuckled. He suddenly felt his eyelids starting to droop as he yawned.  
"Yeah," Leo agreed, "I'm tired, too."  
When Donnie and Mikey came back to force their older brothers into bed, they were surprised to find that they were already asleep, both leaning against each other as they slept.  
"Aw," Mikey joked, "It's a Kodak moment." Donnie crossed his arms and smiled.  
"Well, at least they're acting like civilized brothers," he sighed, "Only if for a night."

THE END


End file.
